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Vegetables can be chopped or minced by
rapidly moving a chef's knife up and down over the vegetable. This is
simple to do, but there are a few tricks that make the process more
efficient.
Chop a fairly large amount at once so
you're using the entire knife blade. Unless you only have a very small
amount of something to chop, it doesn't make sense to have only a small
section of the blade doing the chopping.
Keep whatever it is you're chopping in
an elongated pile parallel with the knife blade - again, so that the whole
knife blade is in use.
You'll have the most control if you
grip the knife as close to the blade as possible. In fact, your thumb and
forefinger should pinch the sides of the knife blade, while the rest of
your hand wraps around the handle.
Keep the tip of the knife blade firmly
pressed against the cutting board while you chop to steady the knife and
make it easier to control. Many cooks press on the back of the knife with
their free hand to steady it, but if you keep the tip of the knife firmly
planted on the cutting board, this won't be necessary, and you can then
use your free hand to keep sliding whatever it is you're chopping under
the blade.
For some chopping, especially of very
soft foods and herbs, you may find it easier to use the knife in the same
way as when slicing. Instead of holding the knife tip against the cutting
board, move the whole blade up and down. If your hands get tired, you can
switch to a third method. Hold the knife blade with both hands, one hand
near the tip and one near the handle, and move the whole knife rapidly up
and down.
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